Comfortable Captivity
by MegTDJ
Summary: Written for the Dan/Jan Ficathon with the prompt - "I love h/c pieces, one character gets hurt the other has to help them, perhaps they are taken prisoner or stranded somewhere."


Title: Comfortable Captivity  
Author: MegTDJ  
Category: Drama, romance  
Rating: K+  
Pairing: Daniel/Janet  
Spoilers: None  
Summary: Written for Nicole in the Dan/Jan Ficathon - "I love h/c pieces, one character gets hurt the other has to help them, perhaps they are taken prisoner or stranded somewhere."  
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, its universe and its characters are not mine. The story itself is, however, so please don't archive without my permission.

_(Additional note: This was written in 2007, uploaded to FFnet in 2008.)_

xooxoxoxoxoxoxox  
**Comfortable Captivity**

Daniel grunted as his captors roughly threw him into a deep, muddy pit. He looked up just in time to see the sky disappear as a lid made of sticks and twine was draped over the opening. "Great," he muttered. "Next time Jack says he'll do the talking, I should just shoot him."

He was just hauling himself to his feet when he heard a quiet groan from somewhere else inside the pit.

"Hello?" he said, turning his face towards the sound and straining to see another form in the darkness. "Who's there?"

"Daniel?" a soft voice croaked.

Daniel recognized it right away. "Janet?" he said, tentatively stepping towards her. "Are you alright?"

She groaned again. "I don't think so," she said, her voice sounding groggy and her words slurred. "I must have passed out when they threw me down here. I think my left arm is broken."

Daniel's eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the darkness, and he sighed with relief when he saw her lying on the ground a few feet away from him. He quickly took off his jacket and crouched down beside her. "Do you... need me to... you know..." he stammered as he draped the jacket over her.

"I don't think it's a complete fracture," Janet said, sounding almost amused. "You don't need to set it for me."

Daniel let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I wish I had some way of making you a sling, but..." He gestured hopelessly around their empty cell, wishing their captors had at least left them their packs.

"That's okay," she said. "It's alright for now."

Daniel sighed and nodded. "Do you hurt anywhere else?" he asked.

"Um..." Janet went quiet for a moment and seemed to be taking an inventory, slowly flexing various parts of her body to see if they still worked. "Ow," she said, flinching as she moved her leg. "My left ankle hurts, too."

"Do you want me to check it?" Daniel asked nervously. He wasn't sure what he could do for her, considering she was the doctor and he only knew the fundamentals of first aid, but he felt like he should be doing something... anything.

Janet seemed reluctant to accept his offer, but finally she drew in a breath and said, "If you could remove my boot, that would probably help. I'm pretty sure it's just a sprain."

"Okay." Daniel moved slowly over to where Janet's legs appeared to be. Even though his eyes had adjusted enough that he could see Janet's face, her boots were covered in mud and therefore harder to distinguish from the mud on the ground. It took him a minute of groping around before he found her left boot.

"Sorry," he said at least a dozen times as he struggled to undo the laces and remove it from her rapidly swelling foot. Janet barely made a sound, but he could feel her flinch every time her foot moved. He hated to think he was causing her more pain. By the time he was finished, he could feel tears filling his eyes in sympathy.

"Teal'c managed to escape," he told her as he loosely wrapped her foot in his bandana to keep it warm. "He'll have SG-3 here within an hour, so just... hang in there, okay?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice," Janet said through chattering teeth.

Daniel knelt there looking at her for a long moment, feeling completely helpless. He glanced up at the mouth of the pit, hoping that the covering would be lifted away and reveal Teal'c peering over the side ready to help them out. He knew it would happen eventually, but he would have preferred sooner rather than later.

"Daniel?"

He snapped his attention back to Janet instantly. "I'm sorry," he said. "Are you okay?"

"As well as can be expected," she said dryly. "If you could just help me sit up, it would be great."

"Right. Yes, of course. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing, Daniel," Janet said as he took hold of her good arm and supported her while she rose to a sitting position. "None of this was your fault."

"I know, I just... feel so helpless."

"You're doing great," Janet said. "You have an excellent bedside manner."

Daniel almost laughed at that, but Janet's wince at a slight movement from her broken arm sent a stab of pain through his heart. "Here, how about this," he said, carefully scooting behind her and leaning his back against the dirt wall as he positioned her comfortably in front of him with his legs on either side of her and her back against his chest. Then he wrapped his left arm around her waist and used it to cradle her broken limb. "Now you have a chair as well as a sling," he said.

Janet chuckled. "Off-world captivity has never felt so comfortable," she said, settling back against him and giving a soft sigh.

Daniel smiled and arranged his jacket more securely around her with his free hand. "Just let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Well... there is something you can do, actually," she said after a few moments of silence.

"What's that?"

"You can drop the professional distance crap."

Daniel laughed at the unexpected request, though he quickly grew serious again when Janet stiffened in pain from the sudden movement. "Sorry," he said, stroking her hair and resting his cheek against the top of her head. "It's hard to switch it off while we're in full mission mode."

"Nobody else is around, Daniel," Janet said. "I think we can let it slide for just a little while."

"Point taken." He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze as he kissed her temple.

"Mmm... that's better," Janet said. Daniel could hear the smile in her voice even if he couldn't see it on her face. "Do you know the first thing I'm going to do when we get out of here?" she asked a few moments later.

"Head straight to the infirmary, I hope," Daniel said.

"Okay, the second thing."

"Take a long, hot bath?"

"Was that an invitation, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel chuckled carefully and nuzzled the side of her head with his nose. "Might have been."

"Then I guess it'll be the third thing," Janet said playfully.

Daniel smiled. "You've got me stumped," he said.

Janet sighed and lifted her uninjured hand to stroke his arm. "I'm going to talk to General Hammond about us."

Daniel blinked in surprise. "Seriously?" he said. "I thought you said we should wait a while, until we know for sure..."

"I know for sure," Janet said. "I can't believe it took being thrown into a pit with you to make me realize that I can't live without you, but... I know it now."

It took a minute for this to sink in for Daniel, but once it did he felt a sudden wave of peace and joy that he'd never experienced before.

"Well... aren't you going to say something?" Janet asked, sounding slightly uneasy at his silence.

"Yes... sorry," Daniel said as he gave himself a mental shake. "I was just thinking... it's weird to feel so happy when we're supposed to be in captivity here."

Janet laughed, but then sucked in a sharp breath and tensed at the pain it caused. "Please don't make me laugh," she said with a groan.

"I'm sorry." He kissed her temple again and rested his face against her hair. "Just... try to relax and not talk so much, okay? Teal'c will rescue us soon."

To his surprise, after shifting slightly to a more comfortable position, Janet obediently relaxed against him without another word and remained that way for the next few minutes. He knew she must be in a lot of pain if she didn't react to being told to be quiet.

He wasn't sure what to do when he felt her shiver a few minutes later. He had nothing left to cover her with, and rubbing her arms would only cause her more pain. "Are you okay?" he asked, adjusting his jacket a little so he at least felt that he was trying.

"I'm fine," she said. "Just getting tired of being down here."

"Not long now," Daniel said, holding onto her even tighter as if that would increase their combined body heat. "Just hang in there."

A few more minutes passed in silence before Janet suddenly said, "Do you love me, Daniel?"

Daniel's mouth opened and closed a few times in bewilderment before he finally answered, "You know I do."

"Then why haven't you said it?"

Daniel wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Haven't I?" he asked.

Janet rolled her head from side to side without lifting it from his shoulder. "Never in those words."

Daniel winced and shifted uncomfortably beneath her weight. Was he really so scarred from what had happened with Sha're that he was holding back from Janet? He hadn't thought about it before, but now that she had brought it to his attention... maybe his "professional distance" was really just a safety net, a way of keeping himself from getting too close. He loved Janet, there was no doubt about that... so why else would he have neglected to make a habit of telling her so on a daily basis?

"Well?"

Daniel took a deep breath, determination setting in as he made the conscious decision to remedy that negligence once and for all. "Janet..."

Before he could get the words out, he was interrupted by voices coming from outside the pit. "Daniel?" Jack's voice called. "Fraiser?"

"Jack!" Daniel shouted. "We're down here!"

Seconds later, light streamed into the pit as the covering was pulled away, and Daniel found himself squinting up at Jack and Teal'c's faces. "Hang on, folks, we'll have you outta there momentarily," Jack said as Teal'c disappeared from view.

"Janet's injured," Daniel said, gesturing towards her broken arm. "Got anything up there we can use as a sling?"

Janet didn't say a word as Jack threw down a piece of cloth and Daniel helped her tie it around her neck and gently place her arm inside it. He wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or the fact that he hadn't responded to her, but either way, he figured they could deal with it once they were out of this hole and on their way back to the Stargate.

It took a lot of work to help Janet up the rope ladder that Teal'c threw down for them, so they were both exhausted by the time they reached the top. Seeing Teal'c preparing to carry Janet back to the gate, however, gave Daniel a second wind.

"Here, let me," he said, carefully scooping Janet up into his arms without jostling her injured limbs. She rested her head against his shoulder, seemingly relieved that he'd stepped in.

"I love you, Janet," he whispered as everyone else was picking up their gear and preparing to move out.

She lifted her head and smiled up at him. "I love you, too, Daniel," she said in a voice that was decidedly _not_ a whisper.

Daniel looked around to see that Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and all four members of SG-3 were staring at them in amused surprise. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and started marching forward in the direction of the gate. "Let's go have that talk with General Hammond," he said.

Janet laughed softly. "Only after that bath you promised me."

The End


End file.
